Abrasion by printing ink on printing ink surfaces has continued to plague the industry. The problem is most severe in the case of gravure printing wherein after long printing runs, the surfaces of the doctor blade and the gravure cylinder wear out. This in turn causes "hazing" or "scumming", i.e. printing in the non-image areas. The phenomenon is particularly acute when water-based inks are used in place of non-aqueous inks. Environmental, health and safety considerations dictate that, to the extent possible, solvents such as hydrocarbons, alcohols, glycols, glycol ethers, ketones and esters be replaced with water. Thus, solving the abrasion problem would provide a greater incentive to printers to utilize water-based inks.
Abrasion of the printing surfaces is, no doubt, related to factors such as the type of pigment, pigment crystal morphology, pigment particle size, etc. It is thought that water provides less lubricity than solvents. However, incorporation of materials thought in the prior art to provide lubricity such as waxes, stearates, etc. have had little effect in reducing the abrasion caused by water-based inks after long printing runs.